Prunus Mume

[JudyB]

Excellent!

 

[Dan W.]

Superb!!! Mine is just about there!... well, not the tree... but the buds are almost opening.

 

[Dav4]

Very nice, and clearly a very healthy and happy tree!

 

[Dav4]

Hey Brian. I was just wondering how you deal with this ume during the winter as far as protection. According to Brent, these trees lose much of their cold hardiness once flowering commences. So, your tree has been flowering for a week or two, and it's pretty damn cold right now...13 F in my yard right now though I bet it's a bit warmer in Birmingham. Do you leave this one out on the bench, under the bench, or in the garage as a rule, and do you do anything extraordinary during cold snaps like what we have been dealing with recently? Thanks,

Dave

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

It's in the garage right now. Mostly because the wind will knock the petals off pretty quick. After it finishes blooming, it will get mulched in under the bench for the rest of the winter. I'm not crazy about letting it get down to 15, but I'd probably leave it out. It doesn't show any signs of activity other than the blooms...no increased water intake, and it's 10 weeks from leaf break.

 

[Dav4]

It doesn't show any signs of activity other than the blooms...no increased water intake, and it's 10 weeks from leaf break.

Hmmn, interesting. My umes always started pushing leaves within a few weeks of the end of flowering. Also, according to what Brent has on his website, the onset of flowering means increased sap flow in the branches, and this can allowuse micro fractures in the bark that predispose the tree to fungal infection. I have not had good luck with ume here in GA. The one descent one I had weakened over the last two years, eventually losing its entire apex...it's basically half a stump that I put back in the ground. I can only assume that the issues Brent describe contributed to my tree's decline. I would guess you hit this one with a fungicide come springtime...copper?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Yeah, I use fungicides, Daconil or Immunox; copper sometimes if I'm treating my pines. I haven't seen any issues other than a few spots on the trunk that develop a blob of amber colored sap.

 

[nathanbs]

A couple of my umes are already showing leaf break

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Spring '14 update...in need of a haircut in a week or so.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Goin nuts!

 

[cmeg1]

That is great.It probably loves that.

 

[Jason_mazzy]

How often are you cutting back?

I have cut back twice now (to two leaves)

Plenty if fertilizer and it seems to be pushing interior buds and denser foliage.

We'll see how it goes I guess.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I haven't cut it back yet, but will cut it back to 2-3 nodes in the next few days, then not touch it again until it's done blooming in January-Feburary.

 

[Jason_mazzy]

You are going for blooms.

I want to go for density and back budding hopefully to have really dense blooms in two years.

Do you think continuous cut backs to 2-3 nodes will hasten the ramification?

 

[fredtruck]

I think some of that depends on the cultivar of prunus mume you have. I have a contorted cultivar, and it back buds pretty well. Others do not. If you cut back to 2 or 3 nodes continually, you are likely not to have any flowers at all. Ume bloom on new wood, so if you don't have any new wood, no flowers.

 

[Jason_mazzy]

Yes I understand. What I was saying was if I can get a tight dense canopy in 2 years I could have hundreds of blooms.

 

[fredtruck]

Try it and see if it works. Or, ask someone with more expertise in this area, like Owen Reich.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Yes I understand. What I was saying was if I can get a tight dense canopy in 2 years I could have hundreds of blooms.

In theory, this will work. When you prune back to 2-3 nodes, if the remaining 2-3 latent buds grow, then you are developing ramification. When you are going for blooms, you can prune as shown here; once in late spring to allow the tree to set flower buds for the next 6 months.

 

[Jason_mazzy]

Yes thank you. That was my thought (but we know how theories are).

I created a weeping style last year thinking I would get this awesome weeping canopy full of blooms. I did not.

While I got some spectacular blooms it was not the overwhelming effect I had hoped for.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Did a video playing around with a new app...
[video=youtube_share;MKbLSjSgARc]http://youtu.be/MKbLSjSgARc[/video]
And a shot 2 weeks later showing new growth...